Chapter Eleven

Shad was very sad when Eir was sent to tend the bar. Link sat down in her empty seat, raising an eyebrow at Shad. He reddened a bit and admitted, "She may give off that strange air, but she's really quite pretty."

"That can wait for later," Telma told him sternly. "We have to bring Link up to date on things."

Link nodded. "Yes. Tell me what you were talking about."

Ashei spoke up. "So these—these Senvivane things, they can't die, yeah? Well, we know how to halt them, but not how to kill them. Auru had this idea…you tell 'im." She nodded to the elderly man, who took over Ashei's speech.

"You told us about this Mirror of the Twilight. Have you had any luck?" he asked.

"Maybe," replied Link vaguely. "As soon as I find out, I'll tell you."

Auru nodded. "Fair enough. Now, Link, there might be a connection between the Mirror and the Senvivanes."

"Right, right; that's what I thought," interrupted Link, not meaning to be rude but wanting to speed up the conversation.

"Well, perhaps we can…help you find this Mirror?" suggested Auru. "I'm not very good in the field work, but I know I have the brains to help you."

The lad nodded slowly; he had not yet told the Group about the cryptic message the Sages had spoken, and reckoned it would be beneficial to be honest with them. "All right. That sounds like a plan. But, first, there was something I sort of excluded earlier, when I told you about my journey. Today, when I went to Arbiter's Grounds, I talked to—to Sages. And they gave me this message. I can't remember it exactly, but they said that the first piece went to—to the 'red-haired women', and the second piece to the 'sacred race'. 'The sand, the hidden', they said, so I assume that that's where the pieces are."

Telma nodded slowly. "Well, I can certainly assure you that this red-haired woman doesn't have some Mirror shard, so that rules me out." She leaned around the wall blocking off the backroom and called to her niece, "Eir honey, have you picked up any weird objects lately?"

"No," replied Eir, "unless you count that doctor's enormous tab as weird."

Telma looked back at the Group and smiled. "So, Eir and I don't have it. Sorry, honey."

Link nodded, waving a hand at her apology. "No, don't be. I'm glad you don't; that Mirror does funny things to those who aren't prepared." His mind jumped to the odd image of Yeta after being possessed by the Mirror, but he quickly brought himself back to reality as Ashei talked.

"So there's really nothin' we can do." She shrugged simply. "We can try 'n' figure it out, but that might take a while."

Link nodded glumly. He had been really very eager to find the Mirror Shards and reach the Twilight Realm. While his initial motivation was to see Midna again, his curiosity had also been piqued. These Senvivanes, and the appearance of the Hero's Shade, was certainly intriguing. He could not pass up such an adventure.

"All right. I guess we'll do that," he conceded. "But right now, I'm completely exhausted."

"Where are you going to stay?" asked Telma.

"I'll find some place," evaded Link vaguely, privately thinking about turning into a wolf and curling up in some corner. "I'm off." He stood up. "Bye."

The others bid him farewell, and he began walking through the bar towards the exit, but a soft voice called his name. He turned, and Eir was looking directly at him, beckoning. He went to the barmaid.

"Meet me outside the bar at one am," she whispered. "I have something to tell you."

"What're you going to show me?" he asked, but Eir simply smiled and put a finger to her lips.

"You'll see," she smiled. "Now, go off; I'll see you in four hours."

Link nodded, mystified, but agreed all the same. He felt slightly uneasy about this meeting with her, but, as he walked out of the bar and searched for a place to catch a quick nap, he knew that he could protect himself if there was any trouble.

And, knowing Link's luck, there would be plenty.

OoO

After finding a comfortable corner near the fountain in the center of Castle Town, Link allowed himself to peacefully doze, keeping just awake enough to hear a church clock striking twelve-thirty. He roused himself then, allowing himself a half hour to fully awaken. If there was anything fishy, he wanted to be awake and armed. He drew the Master Sword, holding it casually in his hand just in case.

He arrived approximately a minute after one; Eir was there, looking very complacent yet creepily beautiful. Soft winds rustled her fired locks; Link approached her, almost regretful to break the scene. She turned slowly, her expression staid at first but then reverting to a small smile.

"Hello, Link," she greeted in a quiet voice that seemed to travel great distances. "And how are you this fine night?"

"What is it you wanted to show me?" asked Link, deciding to skip the pleasantries and preamble. "You ought to be asleep, Eir."

She smiled, as though thinking as an inside joke. "I can stay without sleep. Come with me. It's in the bar. My aunt's asleep, as are all of her friends; we won't be disturbed."

Link nodded slowly, tightening his grip around the Master Sword, which lent its light into the darkness. He followed Eir through the doors to Telma's Bar, who bore right as soon as she entered, walking over to a shelf. She put one hand on the wall and, with a sure and practiced hand, pulled free a stone. She began taking down several other stones, until a reasonably sized hole was gaping through the wall.

"Eir…what…?" began Link, but she turned to face him, holding up a hand for silence. Her eyes were determined, boring into his.

"I need you to keep this a secret," she whispered. "If my aunt found out, she would most certainly lose her head. When I heard you two talking about it, I knew this must be it." She turned back to the hole and reached in. "Link…I'm sorry…I—I…" She pulled out something that glinted in the Master Sword's light. "I cannot let you take it!"

Eir whipped about, clutching two long, lethal scimitars in either hand. Her eyes glowed blood-crimson in the darkness; the terrible evil that possessed her marred her beautiful features. A look of insanity and purest greed sharpened her face, loathing directed right at him. Before Link could react, she had rushed at him, blades pointing at his heart.

Whoa! For once, this late update is NOT my fault! XD XD

Okay. So. For some reason, FictionPress and FanFiction weren't working. I had this chapter ready about a week ago, yet I couldn't upload it. In the meantime, I did a lot of "research" (i.e., I played the game a lot lot lot XD), thus many of my facts will be more accurate (okay, so they're not really FACTS...whatever). I'll be updating a bunch (hopefully) this week, because I have it off. XD Thanks for waiting, everyone!!!!